# First time Home Buyer **URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/first-time-home-buyer/19882 **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic **Created:** [November 8, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/first-time-home-buyer/19882 "2006-11-08T08:38:58Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 18
### Author: ![Nikuk](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/nikuk/32/7254_2.png) [@Nikuk](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nikuk) #### Post date: [November 8, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/first-time-home-buyer/19882/18 "2006-11-08T11:10:58Z")
step 1: figure out how much You can afford. AFFORD. Just because You can MAKE the payment does not mean that You can afford it. There are a ton of financing options out there, talk to a few loan officers about their products to see what will best fit Your situation (5 yr occupancy? 40 yr occupancy? gonna die in that house?). Once You have a strong idea about the financial terms… rate shop. Ehh… cards can help & can hurt. You need to understand how it works before You start opening cards/accounts for the helluvit. [http://www.myfico.com/](http://www.myfico.com/) \<- FairIssac is the model that \>80% of the financial institutions use. Read up. A mere 20 pt swing in Your score (at the time of application) can mean as much as 1.4% interest rate change. --- _[View the full topic](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/first-time-home-buyer/19882)._